Flora of North America species comparison

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Clarkia affinis

Clarkia heterandra

chaparral clarkia, chaparral clarkia or fairyfan, chaparral fairyfan

California gaura, heterogaura, mountain clarkia
Stems

erect, to 80 cm, puberulent.

erect, to 60 cm, glandular puberulent.
Leaves

petiole 0–3 mm;

blade linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1.5–7 cm.

petiole 5–20 mm;

blade lanceolate to ovate, 2–8 cm.
Inflorescences

dense spikes, axis straight;

buds erect.

open racemes or panicles, axis straight;

buds erect.
Flowers

floral tube1.5–4 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla bowl-shaped, petals 5–15 mm;

stamens 8, subequal;

ovary cylindrical, 8-grooved, length at least 10 times width;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.

sometimes autogamous;

floral tube 1–2 mm;

sepals reflexed together to 1 side;

corolla rotate, petals elliptic to obovate, tapered to claw;

stamens 8, unequal, anthers cream or light pink, inner ones smaller, sterile;

ovary subglobose, grooves obscure;

stigma not exserted beyond anthers.
Capsules

15–30 mm, beak 3–7 mm;

pedicel 0–5 mm.

2–3 mm, indehiscent, nutlike;

sessile or pedicellate (to 2 mm).
Seeds

brown or gray, 1–1.5 mm, scaly, crest 0.1 mm.

1 or 2.
2n

= 52.

= 18.

Clarkia affinis

Clarkia heterandra
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Openings in woodlands and chaparral. Shady sites, woodlands, yellow-pine forests.
Elevation 0–500 m. (0–1600 ft.) 500–2000 m. (1600–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Clarkia affinis is known primarily from west-central California and the North Coast Ranges, and more scattered in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and Western Transverse Ranges.

Clarkia affinis is a hexaploid most closely related to C. purpurea; both have 2n = 52. Chromosome pairing in hybrids between them, as well as morphology, suggest that they have a tetraploid (2n = 34) genome in common. The two species are most readily distinguished by their immature capsules, which in C. affinis are slender, at least ten times longer than wide, beaked, and shallowly grooved, whereas those of C. purpurea are stout, not more than eight times longer than wide, not prominently beaked, and deeply grooved; the sepals of the former are generally reflexed together in fours whereas those of the latter are reflexed individually or in twos. Based on morphology and molecular data, the diploid genome probably came from C. cylindrica or a related species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Clarkia heterandra occurs in southern Oregon and California, where it is known from the Klamath Ranges in Trinity County, widely in the Sierra Nevada and Tehachapi Mountain area from Nevada to Kern counties, and in the South Coast and Transverse Ranges from San Luis Obispo to Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Prior to 1986, Clarkia heterandra was treated as the monotypic genus Heterogaura, thought to be possibly related to the genus Gaura (now a section of Oenothera) due to its similar indehiscent fruits. However, molecular data indicate that C. heterandra is clearly within Clarkia, most closely related to C. dudleyana and C. unguiculata, which suggests a possible hybrid origin at the diploid level (K. J. Sytsma and L. D. Gottlieb 1986, 1986b; W. L. Wagner et al. 2007). Clarkia dudleyana and C. unguiculata produce spontaneous hybrids when grown adjacent to each other if they come from allopatric populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 10. FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Biortis Onagraceae > subfam. Onagroideae > tribe Onagreae > Clarkia > sect. Phaeostoma > subsect. Heterogaura
Sibling taxa
C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. heterandra, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
C. affinis, C. amoena, C. arcuata, C. australis, C. biloba, C. borealis, C. bottae, C. breweri, C. concinna, C. cylindrica, C. davyi, C. delicata, C. dudleyana, C. epilobioides, C. exilis, C. franciscana, C. gracilis, C. imbricata, C. jolonensis, C. lassenensis, C. lewisii, C. lingulata, C. mildrediae, C. modesta, C. mosquinii, C. prostrata, C. pulchella, C. purpurea, C. rhomboidea, C. rostrata, C. rubicunda, C. similis, C. speciosa, C. springvillensis, C. stellata, C. tembloriensis, C. unguiculata, C. virgata, C. williamsonii, C. xantiana
Synonyms Gaura heterandra, Heterogaura heterandra
Name authority H. Lewis & M. E. Lewis: Madroño 12: 34. (1953) (Torrey) H. Lewis & P. H. Raven: Madroño 39: 163. (1992)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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